I know we all have to make a living but talking in favour of pesticide companies ...

Quote:

We're also seeing a sea change in the awareness of the public about pesticides and their effects upon pollinators and wildlife, with the honey bee being used as a poster child. Unfortunately, the overall issue to pesticide impacts has been hijacked by a tunnel vision focus upon the neonics, with scant evidence that they are actually the main problem.

My on-the-ground truthing by visiting beekeepers all over the country finds that most beekeepers in neonic-rich corn/soy/canola landscapes report far fewer pesticide incidents than in the past. My guess is that it is other pesticides, including beekeeper-applied miticides that are more to blame.

I don't know, but what he writes seems sensible and unbiased to me. Has he any 'vested interest'? I also feel that neonics are getting the blame for lots of things, without cast-iron proof that they are responsible, perhaps leading to other candidates being ignored, or other noxious substances being used in place of the banned neonics. Further down his page, he refers to an article about the dangers of a synthetic miticide, so it's not "all chemicals are OK".

Over the course of the day-long tour and dinner, all parties involved—the Bayer scientists, the government regulators, the seed companies, the growers, and the beekeepers—had ample opportunity to openly discuss issues and solutions. We were able to speak candidly with a number of Bayer environmental scientists from Germany, Canada, and the U.S., who all confirmed the high interest that Bayer has in developing bee-friendly products. Over dinner, I asked Dr. Christian Maus (Global Pollinator Safety Manager for Bayer CropScience) whether Bayer was concerned about finding out something negative when they run a new trial. He replied that if indeed there was a problem with one of their products, Bayer would want to be the first to know of it!

Throughout the tour, the atmosphere was very positive for working together to support the growers, while at the same time protecting bee health. Our overall impression was that Bayer is acting in good faith and that Drs. Cutler and Scott-Dupree are earnestly conducting a well-designed trial that should detect any measureable effect of clothianidin upon colony productivity and survival.

Conserving wild bees

Research suggests that bumble bee boxes have a very low success rate in actually attracting bees into them. We find that if you create an environment where first of all you can attract mice inside, such as a pile of stones, a drystone wall, paving slabs with intentionally made cavities underneath, this will increase the success rate.

Most bumble bee species need a dry space about the size a football, with a narrow entrance tunnel approximately 2cm in diameter and 20 cm long. Most species nest underground along the base of a linear feature such as a hedge or wall. Sites need to be sheltered and out of direct sunlight.